Embracing Change – Our new white paper launches

As this year, which gave us Brexit and now Donald Trump’s election to the White House, has proved; we’re all living through a time of great change.

Change is often a challenge. It seldom comes alone, but with complexities and variables which frequently evade prediction. But for a democracy to stay healthy, change has to be built into the system.

Just as with politics, change in a business context is inevitable.

We've launched our latest The HR World White Paper with one theme: how, in a time of change, can we in HR be advocates for a fair process which leads to a better business?

The findings are more important now than ever.

There was an overwhelming feeling at our Roundtable that genuine culture change requires radical behaviour shifts over a period of months and even years.

New behaviours need to be ingrained in the culture, meaning leaders and employees are demonstrating them readily and consistently. No small task.

And while it’s only natural for change to make us all want to retreat to the sanctuary of old, fondly-held certainties, risks are frequently necessary to achieve anything worthwhile. Guarding against every imagined threat means, in effect, doing nothing.

Instead, there are powerful ways to minimise risks by taking the new opportunities open to us in data, employee engagement and collaboration with other departments.

Leaders cannot wait to be asked to sort everything that needs sorting. HR must often set the mandate or change agenda itself. The confidence of an HR team – or any other business function - may have to be built from scratch.

As we all, today, awake to what feels like a new beginning we must ask ourselves “is it my goal to get to a new normal?”

If it is, we must strive to create hope; first by sending the message that ‘we are one’ and second by making leaders more confident, creating an optimism which permeates through any organisation.

Change is a universal constant – and those who deal with it most effectively are those most likely to succeed.